≫ eadrik oneshots

"Are you okay, Your Highness?" - Part 1

A/N [future me]
Just a heads up, whenever Henri and Erik are talking, the dialogue will be in italics because (hypothetically) they're speaking in Finnish.

Erik's POV
"Good morning Henri," I greeted, sitting down next to my friend at the breakfast table.

"Eikko!" he exclaimed, clearly panicked about something. He grabbed my arm. "I ruined my chance! She's going to hate me! I'll never be able to face her again!"

I put up my hand, gesturing for him to stop talking. All his words were running together and it was hard to understand what he was trying to say.

"Henri, calm down. Tell me exactly what happened," I said gently. Whatever was bothering him had to have been important, because he had dark circles under his eyes, messy hair, and his usually happy expression was replaced with pure panic.

"Okay," he paused and looked over at Eadlyn cautiously. I followed his gaze. So whatever happened to Henri the night before must've involved her.

"Okay," he repeated. "Last night I was cooking, like I always do. Suddenly I see Eadlyn is there in the kitchen with me, and I invite her to help me bake some omenalörtsy. So we're baking and everything's going great," he stopped and smiled, his eyes glazed from the memories.

Then his smile faded slowly and his happiness was replaced with fear. "And then she was talking, saying I was sweet during The Report," his words were starting to speed up again.

"She put her hand on my chest and then I put my hand on top of hers. I didn't want to invade her privacy, but she was nodding, like she wanted me to. So I held her, and that was a bad idea, because I'm pretty sure I held on way longer than I should have and then I kissed her, which is what I thought she wanted! But then she left, and I wasn't so sure if that's what she wanted after all."

His eyes were panicked again, and he kept running his hands through his hair, which was only making it more messy.

I sat still for a minute, going over everything Henri had told me. Eadlyn had kissed him? After they were done baking? I wasn't sure why Henri was making such a big deal about it. It was one kiss.

But if Henri needed to be reassured and comforted, I'd be the one to give the reassurance and comfort. That's what friends were supposed to do, right? Help each other?

On the other hand, I couldn't stop looking over at Eadlyn. She looked so beautiful sitting there, delicately eating and quietly talking with her parents. If only I'd been the one receiving kisses. That'd be the most wonderful thing in the world. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to help Henri.

I rubbed my face slowly, trying to figure out what I should do. Help my friend? Or cling to the feelings I'd begun to develop for Eadlyn? I knew what I needed to do and what I wanted to do.

But what was the right thing to do?

• • •

Around noon I decided to talk to Eadlyn. I knew Henri wouldn't stop worrying until he knew exactly how she felt about their kiss.

When I finally found Eadlyn's room, I knocked on her door. There was no answer. I knocked again. Silence.

I was about to walk away, since she obviously wasn't in her room, when I heard someone walking up the steps. I turned and saw that it was Eadlyn.

Before I could even take a step toward her, she stopped and leaned against the wall for support. She wrapped her arms tightly around her stomach and started sobbing uncontrollably.

My heart broke just watching her. I'd never seen her so vulnerable before. I was afraid that if I said anything she would try to cover up her pain, the way I'd noticed she always did.

So instead I waited. Hopefully by the time she stopped crying she'd be more open with me. She never wanted people to see her heart, and now that her feelings were being poured out, maybe she'd let me in.

Finally, after wiping away her tears, Eadlyn looked up at me. Her eyes grew wide and her hands quickly started wiping her face, which was a mess. Embarrassment flickered in her eyes as she walked over to me.

I knew how much she hated pity, so I tried hard to not let it show. I didn't pity her, I hurt for her. Her sadness dampened my mood even more. At the last second, I remembered to bow. She was still the princess, after all.

"I feel like maybe I've come at a bad time," I said, hoping she wouldn't detect the tiny bit of sarcasm in my voice. I internally sighed when she smiled.

"Ever so slightly," she answered, actually admitting to being hurt inside. "Still, I'm happy to help you if I can."

I pressed my lips together tightly, not really in the mood to talk about the kiss. "I wanted to talk to you about Henri. He didn't send me!" I held up my hand defensively. "I think he'd come to you himself if he could speak on his own. But he's embarrassed." I swallowed, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "He, uh...he told me about the kiss."

She nodded. "I figured."

"He's afraid he's crossed a line. He said something about holding on to you and that he probably should have let go, but then he didn't and-"

She shook her head quickly, interrupting me. "That makes it sound much worse than it was. He...we..." She stood there, looking lost. "We were trying to communicate, and when the words didn't work, well, that did."

The thought of Eadlyn willingly kissing Henri made me cringe. But I wasn't doing this for me, I was doing it for him. "Are you cross with him?"

She let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh. "No. He's one of the kindest people I know. I'm not upset with him in the slightest."

I nodded, relieved that we didn't have to talk about the kiss anymore. And that I didn't have to listen to her compliments anymore. "Would it be alright if I told him as much?"

"Absolutely." She wiped at her eyes again, smudging her eyeliner even more. "Ick."

Suddenly I remembered how she'd been crying earlier. "Are you okay, Your Highness?"

I could see the debate going around and around in her mind. She didn't have to tell me anything. I wasn't even part of the Selection.

She sighed and to my surprise, the walls covering up her heart were down, exposing her true feelings. "No," she whimpered. "I'm not."

A/N [old me]
Yay, a chance to give you guys a cliffhanger! I'm really sorry if the stories don't seem as good as before. I'm just writing anything that pops into my head. Also, thanks for reading!